Field hockey hosts first home game

By Matthew Cucuzza

After one full season of play and over one year of preparation, the Santa Clara club field hockey team played its first ever home game this past Saturday. They were defeated 3-1 by the Gauchos of UC Santa Barbara.

"We played pretty well," Co-Captain Megan Incorvaia said. "It was mostly a defensive game. There was a lot of pressure on the defense."

Freshman Jordan Clarke scored Santa Clara's lone goal in a match that featured few offensive chances. Despite the loss at Bellomy Field, Incorvaia felt the game was a success for the Broncos.

"We still had some issues with on-field communication, but our goal was to score a goal and we did," the senior said.

Incorvaia, along with Tracey Mangin, Lindsay Damrow and Genna Forster, founded the club field hockey team two years ago after playing pick-up games on Bellomy Field together. The team was granted official club sport status in Spring 2007 and began league play the following fall.

During the first year, the team was without a coach and had barely enough members to field a team. They spent the entire season without playing a home game.

"It's tough coming out and playing a lot of games and constantly being the visiting team," Incorvaia said.

Now in its second full season, the club, coached by CSU Chico graduate Debbie Schuster, can field a full squad for its matches. They also now are capable of hosting matches on Bellomy Field.

"We have a lot of new players and freshmen players coming onto the team who have a lot of individual skill," Co-Captain Emily Entress said. "It's just working on the chemistry between us, which is coming along really fast."

As a new program, the club has bigger aspirations than just on-field success. Entress wants to see the program develop further and earn legitimacy amongst its opponents.

"Our main goal is to have fun," Entress said. "But since we are a new team one of our goals is establishing ourselves as a reputable name and successful team. That's ideally what we're trying to do here."

The team has held several bonding activities and has been practicing four days a week in hopes of developing team chemistry.

"Our team is developing really good hits, especially for playing on Bellomy Field, which is less than desirable," Entress said.

Entress and Incorvaia are pleased with the team's progress despite the conditions at the heavily-used Bellomy Field.

"It's an unforgiving jungle," Incorvaia said of the field.

Last season the club was disallowed from hosting any matches due to a mandatory probational status every new club sport must endure, Incorvaia said. In addition, the team was added to an existing schedule made prior to their status as a club becoming official.

The wear and tear of the sport on Bellomy Field was also a concern, but Santa Clara has agreed to examine the field before and after the season to assess damage.

The Broncos have received steady and consistent play from their sole goaltender Stacey Li, who has provided a solid backbone for the developing squad.

"She can play the whole game and be counted on to be there every game," Incorvaia said.

"She's definitely come through for us," added sophomore midfielder Chelsea Verhasselt.

Santa Clara's next matches are at home on Oct. 18, when they take on UC Davis at 1 p.m. and battle CSU Chico at 4 p.m. The team's next road game will be at rival Cal Poly San Luis Obispo on Oct. 25. Santa Clara upset Cal Poly in overtime at an indoor tournament in Chico last spring.

Verhasselt would like to see the team open up the field more as they progress through the season.

"We need to work on coming together as a team, moving the ball around, spreading out the field and using options, like passing backwards or cycling around for defense to help fill in empty spaces," Verhasselt said.

Though the team has several holes, its future is bright.

Verhasselt believes the club has quality players that are capable of working well together.

"On an individual level, everyone is pretty good. It's just getting everybody to work together." Verhasselt said.

Contact Matthew Cucuzza at (408) 551-1918 or mcucuzza@scu.edu